Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Drug War With Mexican Cartels Already Here

In an earlier post, I said "Mark my words: it's only a matter of time before the grenade attacks and car bombs spill over the border."

In comments, Big Bob said "It is already here" and left a link which I've quoted below.

Big Bob is right. It arrived with little fanfare. This should have been reported in our national media. Repeatedly. Emphatically. But, of course, they are all a bunch of open borders socialists so they would never both to inform us that the war is already here.

By ANGELA KOCHERGA Belo Television akocherga@belo-dc.com Angela Kocherga is the Belo / The Dallas Morning News

chief based in El Paso.

PHOENIX – Grenades used in three recent attacks in northern Mexico and South Texas originated from the same source, U.S. investigators say, and the paramilitary group known as the Zetas is suspected of being behind the assaults.

Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives say they have evidence linking grenades used in an October attack on the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey, Mexico, a January attack on a television station in Monterrey and a January attempted attack on a bar in Pharr, Texas. Three off-duty police officers were customers of the bar.

No serious injuries were reported in any of the attacks, but investigators say lot numbers confirmed that the grenades came from the same source.

"When you see grenades in Mexico and then a grenade in the U.S., it tells you the violent criminals do not respect the U.S.-Mexico border," said William Newell, ATF special agent in charge in Phoenix. "Now that we're seeing a growing influence of Mexican drug cartels in small towns in America, we have to realize they're here, and how much further we let that violence spread is up to us."

According to an unclassified report that ATF sent to law enforcement agencies last week, the grenades are "linked to a major recovery of firearms and grenades in a Mexican warehouse with suspected ties to a drug cartel."

ATF officials traced the grenades to a warehouse in Monterrey. The explosives were manufactured in South Korea. Investigators say they believe the cartels buy grenades on the black market in Central America, where the explosives are from past civil wars.

The group behind the attacks is believed to be the Zetas, who have terrorized the border area for years and whose reach extends into U.S. cities, according to U.S. investigators.

In this decade, the Zetas have grown from regional armed enforcers of the Gulf cartel into a formidable foe of the Mexican government, which has declared war on them and other drug cartels that now control parts of Mexican territory.

This week, a member of the Zetas was arrested in Cancún and held in the killing of an army general.

Investigators warn that the Texas grenade incident likely won't be the last.

"The violence is here," said Jim Needles, the assistant special agent in charge of the ATF office in Phoenix. "It's not just an issue for the Mexican authorities. It's also an issue for us here in the United States."